No. 6 Wesley downs No. 15 Birmingham-Southern

DOVER, Del. – An interception by
Aamir Petrose remaining sealed a 26-17 victory for
Wesley College's sixth-ranked football team over No. 15
Birmingham-Southern on Saturday afternoon at Scott D. Miller
Stadium. The Wolverines, who were playing their
fourth-straight ranked opponent, picked off three passes and held
the Panthers to just 261 yards of total offense.

For the fifth-straight game this year, Wesley was forced to come
from behind as Birmingham-Southern held a 10-0 lead after the first
quarter. A 39-yard field goal by Dan Tryon
cut the deficit to seven points with 10:16 left in the first half
before a 56-yard catch and run by Jeremiah Howe
tied the game at ten with 7:13 remaining.

The Wolverines were able to take its first lead of the game just
before the half as Justin Sottilare led an
eight-play, 96 yard drive, culminating with a 12-yard touchdown
pass to Steven Koudossou. Wesley's defense came up
big in the second quarter, allowing just 14 yards in those 15
minutes.

Birmingham-Southern received the ball to start the second half
and they ate up over eight minutes to take a 17-16 lead and they
held the narrow advantage throughout the third quarter.

After forcing a three-and-out, Wesley regained possession of the
ball with 4:06 left in the third and Sottilare once again led a
long, time consuming drive that took up over six minutes.
Devar Robinson came up big on the drive,
converting for a first down on a trio of third down plays,
including a 14-yard catch to set up a 25-yard field goal by
Tryon.

On the ensuing possession, Derrick Bender
picked off a pass from Panthers quarterback Jimmy Stainback, the
second thrown by the senior signal caller on the afternoon.
Wesley took over at its own 42 and crossed midfield on a big
two-yard run by Sottilare on third-and-two. A ten-yard pass to
Chris Cummings, followed by another big play to
Matt Barile got the Navy & White into the red
zone. Three plays later, Askia Jahad busted
into the endzone from two yards out to put Wesley on top 26-17 with
3:13 left to play.

Looking to answer, Jimmy Stainback got Birmingham to the Wesley
34-yard line, but on first down, Sosthene Kapepula
tipped a pass high into the air and Petrose came down with the ball
to put an end to a possible comeback.

Sottilare had his best game of the season for the Wolverines,
completing 26 passes, to 11 different receivers, on 38 attempts for
a season-high 346 yards and two touchdowns. It was the first
300-yard passing game for the Columbia, Md., native, and the fifth
of his career. He also did not throw an interception.

The running game was also big for Wesley as Jahad ran for 103
yards on 18 carries while Robinson rushed for 30 yards on nine
carries. Robinson also caught three passes for 31 yards.

On the receiving end of Sottilare's passes, Koudossou had a
team-high six grabs that went for 59 yards while Howe hauled in
four balls for 103 yards.

Kapepula led the defense once again with seven tackles, two of
which went for a loss, while Jared Morris recorded
identical numbers, along with his team-high fifth interception.

Shawn Morris had 84 rushing yards and Aaron Sherrill tallied 84
receiving yards to lead the Panthers. The Wolverines really
keyed on Joseph Moultrie who ran for just five yards on seven
carries. Stainback completed just 12-of-23 passes for 154
yards.

Wesley is back home next weekend, when it hosts Virginia
University of Lynchburg for Homecoming on Saturday, October 13, at
1 pm.